Tag Archives: tartan

My friend Christina has the best ideas! She’s the one who invited me to the “cars & couture” local fashion show last summer, and it was her idea to get tickets to the annual local Oscars viewing party, hosted by The Grand Cinema. I am a lifelong Oscars nerd fan, so she did not have to twist my arm to say yes — and then it turned out to be a really fun and unique “double date” when our significant others agreed to come along.

Festive attire dress code

The dress code, as explained on the event’s website, suggested “festive attire.” I had no idea what that meant, so y’all know I looked that up, right? Librarian skillz. 😉 Turns out, “festive attire” is basically like “cocktail attire” but with more sparkle and sequins.

This was a great opportunity for Sam to bust out his formal kilt attire, because YES. And he went full formal, with his tux shirt and buttons and bow tie and fancy, faux-fur sporran. I love love love when Sam gets to wear his formal kilt, because (a) he looks so handsome, (b) the Fraser red tartan is very striking, and (c) he looks so handsome.

And because Sam would be wearing the Fraser red tartan, I knew I would need to incorporate that into my own ensemble. I had two options in my closet that would coordinate with the red tartan: my navy satin-and-chiffon halter dress, seen here, and my purple retro-style dress with the sweetheart neckline, first seen here. Either dress would have been fine, but I decided on my purple cocktail dress as it provided a bit more coverage, and it’s still winter. Practicality, y’all.

Here we are, in our festive finest:

The day before the Oscars viewing party, my friend Christina scored a black velvet wrap dress, seen below. A great find, so classic and flattering! I also loved that she added fun patterns with her clutch and heels. She also convinced her sweetie, Bismark, to incorporate patterns, through his checked button-front and socks. (Sadly, I forgot to get a picture of his socks!).

For fun, as well as to honor Bismark, I added his pin to my clutch. (You can also see a closeup of this pin on my Instagram.) I also added a Jamie Fraser Outlander pin to my clutch, to honor my own Fraser. This pin — which some of you may also have seen earlier this year on my Instagram! — was a Christmas gift from friends in Portland. I also added a Wonder Woman pin, because the movie should have been nominated for multiple Academy Awards this year but was shut out. (Other than Wonder Woman not getting nominated, I was pretty happy with the rest of the nominations. And I was pretty pleased with the eventual winners, too.)

Below is a photo of my other accessories and jewelry. I first added the circular brooch that my husband’s Scottish great-aunt gifted me when we visited her and Sam’s cousins years ago during our trip to Scotland (see this post for more pics during that trip). To coordinate with the black pearls in that brooch, I added two bracelets with black pearls, as well as my headband that looks like it’s made of miniature black pearls. I added more sparkle with my crystal drop earrings, as well as the vintage, Art Deco-inspired brooch from my paternal grandmother.

I used the circular brooch to secure one end of the sash, as you can see above, and I used the Art Deco brooch to secure the top part of the sash on my shoulder, as you can see below.

When I was double-checking to see which shoulder to drape the sash over — wearing it over the right shoulder signifies you are married to a clansman, whereas wearing it over the left shoulder signifies you are married to the clan chieftain — I saw a tutorial for an easy way to do a rosette at the end of the sash. I ended up doing a half-rosette, and I really loved how it finished off one end of the sash. The other end I left hanging down the back.

The viewing party was really well-organized! Everyone got awards booklets, as well as a special, complimentary cookie. There was a private viewing room for VIPs, but we opted for the general admission seats — and I am glad to report that the theatre seats were very cushy and comfortable! When you know the telecast will last 4+ hours, that’s a very important detail! 😉

They also had a fun photo booth downstairs, which was open during the entire telecast. They had all sorts of props to play with, including a miniature Oscar statuette, feather boas, masks, and more. Sam and I opted for black-and-white photos for our turn — we had fun with the Oscars statuette, because OF COURSE — and we went for full color for a group photo booth souvenir. I loved how these turned out!

Finally, some selfies to wrap up the night!

I really enjoyed reliving this fun night while putting this post together — I hope you also enjoyed this Oscars viewing party recap! What did you do for the Academy Awards this year? Please leave a comment and share. 😀

Isn’t it time for some more of Sam’s style? The answer, of course, is ALWAYS. And it seems fitting that a day after I feature my dusty rose jeans, that I feature Sam’s “faded burgundy” trousers. Equality, y’all. ♥

My husband is a vegetarian, so we have to scout out non-leather shoes for him. These are brogues made from man-made materials, and I love the cognac color of these shoes. They also tie in with the (non-leather) cognac belt he’s wearing — and with his JORD wood watch!

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If you’re a longtime reader, y’all might remember seeing my husband, Sam, in a kilt. Even as recently as last month! (If not, then do yourself a favor and soak up some Scottish blue steel here, here and here.) My husband’s heritage is part Scottish — proudly of the Clan Fraser — and he’s worn his classic “Fraser red” tartan kilt several times. That kilt is fancier, so my husband also got a more casual “cargo kilt” a couple of years ago for versatility. The style is also called a “utility kilt” or “utilikit” for short.

This one’s made of thick canvas twill and has extra cargo pockets. It’s perfect for hiking, and my husband also wears it for work sometimes or occasions that have a dress code somewhere inbetween casual and fancy. This is what my husband wore to a recent JASNA event, and he dressed up the cargo kilt a bit with a grey button-down and brown Oxfords.

And behold the handsomeness:

I mean, right?! Gotta love a man in a kilt! There’s something so down-to-earth and sexy about a man in a kilt. Perhaps it’s the confidence of the man wearing it. Sam always gets a ton of compliments when he’s out wearing a kilt — and sometimes I even get random compliments for supporting him wearing a kilt! It’s my pleasure. 😀

He still is sporting the Fraser connection — this time with his tie, which is in the “Fraser hunting” tartan. (This is my personal favorite of the Fraser tartans, by the way.) Sam also has a necktie in the classic “Fraser red” tartan, which he always wears on the first day of teaching!

Hope y’all liked a bit of Scottish flavor to your week!

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Sam and I recently attended a wedding of two friends, and we were psyched when the groom asked Sam to wear his kilt. (The groom’s dad was wearing a kilt and didn’t want to be the only one.) We don’t get to attend many weddings anymore, because most of our friends are either already married (or don’t plan on getting married).

However, it was a little difficult to plan on what I was going to wear. Sam was wearing his kilt, which was a given, so whatever I wore needed to “go” with the Fraser red tartan. It was also an outdoor wedding in the afternoon, so the weather really had to be taken into account. And wouldn’t you know, the fickle late summer Portland weather decided to have one of its chilly, off-and-on rainy days. The bride had joked that if it rained, then we would get wet. And we did. It was glorious. 😀

Sam dressed down his kilt a bit with a grey sweater, cream kilt hose, and brown brogues, along with his casual brown sporran. (He has a fancier faux fur sporran, which you can see here in this post.) Because of the chill in the air, I knew I needed to wear layers, so I finally decided on my light blue bicycle dress and my bejeweled black cardigan to add some sparkle for the occasion. A bright red skinny belt and a Fraser scarf looped onto my bag helped tie me into Sam’s look. And let me tell you, it felt STRANGE to be putting on tights again after a few months of going bare-legged! But it was worth it, as I was warm enough without having to wear a coat.

The outdoor wedding was lovely, with fresh flowers adding color amidst the South Waterfront Park setting. We also had lovely views of Portland bridges around us. And the overcast skies made for PERFECT picture-taking conditions. Always a silver lining, eh? 🙂

All the guests also got bubble wands, so OF COURSE Sam had to take pics of me blowing bubbles. (Too bad none of the bubbles showed up in the pics.)

All in all, a lovely occasion! And it was fun to get a bit dressed up, and of course Sam was a big hit in his striking tartan!

Another day, another opportunity to wear tartan. I have two Fraser tartan accessories, a fringe-trimmed square scarf, bought on our 2008 trip to Scotland, and a longer sash, most recently seen last week. Part of my husband’s heritage is Scottish (Clan Fraser), and I wear my tartan with wifely pride. 🙂

The Fraser dress tartan is particularly handsome, isn’t it? (There’s a closeup down below.) With its foundation of bright red and stripes of white, forest green, and royal blue, it is a lovely pattern to wear — especially around the winter holidays. And I didn’t realize until downloading the pics how much texture and pattern shows up in this outfit: suede (heels), tweed (heels + skirt), ribbed (sweater + tights), and tartan (scarf).

And yes, with Christmas just around the corner, the carols have been running non-stop in our home. Wearing this royal blue sweater made me think of the “We Three Kings” carol:

O, star of wonder, star of night,Star with royal beauty bright

I also wore these silver bell earrings — always a favorite accessory this time of year! — a gift long ago from my mom. I like that they’re seasonal, but the sparkle is still subtle. “Silver Bells” is also my mom’s favorite Christmas carol, so I smile inside whenever I wear these earrings.

Silver bells, silver bellsIt’s Christmas time in the cityRing a ling, hear them ringSoon it will be Christmas day

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